F'amelia

Last week my friend and I trekked over to Cabbagetown to visit the highly acclaimed Italian Restaurant, F’Amelia (@FAmeliaRisto).

My friend and I were quite excited to finally whine down and grab some authentic Italian food, we attempted to go there rather early. However, we didn’t realize it would be so difficult to find a parking spot. F’Amelia is located in the midst of a cozy neighbourhood. There’s really not much of a public parking lot unless you have a parking permit from being a resident there. Street after street, we managed to finally find a spot. We arrived at 7:45pm and walked into a bright room with natural light shining down on us. The dining room we were seated in seats about 20-25 people. I really enjoyed the ambiance of the restaurant – it gave off a very cozy vibe. Despite the prettiness of the room, the room temperature of the restaurant was rather warm and it didn’t help with the heat wave that has been going on outside for the past week.

Our server was very polite and friendly. After ordering and dropping off a bread basket, she did come back a few times to refill our sparkling water. We were hoping dinner would roughly be 1 hour and half so we could catch a movie afterwards. However, F’amelia took some time to push each course out so in the end we obviously didn’t make it in time for the movie.

Bread to Start

Bread came immediately after ordering. It was served in a cute little red tin. I hardly see flat bread being served in a bread basket so I immediately went for it.

Seared Scallops ($18.00)

with pea and mascarpone puree, wild mushroom and pea ragu and house-made lardo

The scallops was gorgeously seared and gently embedded on some perfectly seasoned wild mushrooms and a soft puree.

My friend and I inhaled this plate no problem – well balanced in flavours.

My friend and I were probably most excited about the Montanara pizza but unfortunately this was a let down for us.

The pizza dough was too chewy for me that we simply couldn’t just cut it with fork and knife. I ended up using my hands.

The pizza was nicely charred in some places but the toppings on the other hand, mainly the parma ham, and arugula were really soggy – or just greased out.

Originally, my friend and I weren’t planning to opt for dessert but seeing how we wouldn’t make it in time for the movies we decided to opt for some desserts!

Vanilla Panna Cotta ($9.00)

with fresh Ontario strawberries

The vanilla panna cotta was very sweet but not overwhelmingly rich. The texture of the panna cotta was a bit more solidified than my usual preferences.

Flourless chocolate torte ($9.00)

with vincotto gelato and pistachio brittle

I had a bite of my friend’s fourless chocolate torte. The warm chocolate torte was essentially like a large brownie. Very rich and decadent – which was mainly why I didn’t opt for the chocolate torte

While the meal did have its ups and downs, my friend and I were both glad we visited F’amelia with no regrets. There were certainly tasty moments and some that were not as memorable. But it was overall worth the try. I personally enjoyed the seared scallops & pasta. I noticed there were large groups sitting around us that were happily sharing the pastas – and all looked really appetizing. Having said that, F’amelia has a great patio, I wouldn’t mind coming back to grab some apps to share whenever I’m out in Cabbagetown.